1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable food warming device assembly and more particularly, to an improved food warming device assembly such as chafer assemblies, warming cabinet assemblies, and the like for food service use in restaurants, hotels, dining rooms, institutions, and the like, which includes a stand of the chafer assemblies or a shelf of the warming cabinet assemblies for supporting of a tray-like food container above a support shelf such as a counter top or a plate thereof, a portable gas burner extending into an opening disposed in a heater support shelf and supported by an annular flange operatively associated with the stand or the shelf, and a control box containing a fuel cartridge for automatically igniting the gas burner by means of an auto piezo-electric ignition line and controlling the supply of fuel to the gas burner, whereby the food warming device assembly can be used to maintain food in a warm condition in a controlled manner and improve the safety, environment quality, and cost effectiveness of the replaceable fuel cartridge.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of food warming device assemblies such as chafer assemblies and warming cabinet assemblies are well known in the art. Some prior chafer or warming cabinet assemblies include a supporting stand below a food container, a gas burner having a fuel tank or a burner having a solid fuel as a composite structure, or an electric burner below the food container. Such warming device assemblies suffer from a number of disadvantages such as, for example, such assemblies have a safety problem, a pollution problem, an unreliable thermostating heat, and a high cost control.
Furthermore, it is difficult for the burners for such food warming device assemblies to be readily associated with the stand and shelf of such conventional warming device assemblies. Some prior food warming device assemblies disclose as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,829,981 to Burrell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,310 to Milligton, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,722 to Horewitch. Also, automatic piezo-electric ignition system are well known in the art since 1978. Such automatic piezo-electric ignition systems are disclosed as shown in brochures and products of gas ranges, gas burning devices, and gas cookers supplied from Iwatani Co., Ltd. in Japan and Ranee Ind. Co., Ltd. in Korea. However, these references do not disclose and suggest the use of a portable gas burner assembly having an annular flange and connected to an automatic piezo-electric ignition line and a fuel supply line from a control box, whereby the portable gas burner-fuel supply tank assembly can be easily adapted to any food container for heating the same.